Complete Live Report

Live coverage of stage four of the Tour de Suisse from Heiden to Ossingen.

12:13:48 GMT

Hello and welcome to live coverage of today's action.

12:18:08 GMT

The 160km stage is from Heiden to Ossingen, the home town of Ferdy Kübler, who won the Tour de Suisse in 1942, 1948 and 1951.

12:19:17 GMT

The stage is a rare chance for the sprinters in this year's race, so we are likely to see Mark Cavendish (OPQS) in action, against stage 3 winner Peter Sagan (Cannondale).

12:22:45 GMT

The stage starts near Lake Constance and follows the southern shore of the long lake. It heads in land at Kreuzlkingen and heads to Aadorf and Winterthur before two 28km loops around Ossingen.

12:31:09 GMT

The riders have covered an 8km neutralised section and the racing is about to begin.

12:42:24 GMT

Other sprinters keen to impress and win the sprint today are Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano). No doubt the Belkin riders will be looking ot win too after the said news that the US sponsor has decided to end its backing after just 18 months. It seems Belkin had an option to quit its sponsorship at the end of 2014 and took it, leaving the team, riders and staff without backing.

147km remaining from 160km

12:47:04 GMT

The riders have covered 13km of the stage so far but there is no real breakaway attempt as yet.

12:47:46 GMT

From the Cyclingnews blimp we can Lake Constance and the weather is warm with only a few clouds in the sky.

12:57:37 GMT

After 20km of racing, there are two riders going clear of the peloton, which is lined-out as the chase begins.

13:09:16 GMT

Laurens De Vreese (Wanty- Groupe Gobert) was the first attack and he was soon joined by Eritrea's Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN by Qhubeka).

They have quickly opened a 3:00 lead on the peloton.

13:20:26 GMT

Sadly Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) has been forced to retire and is on his way to hospital after crashing in the neutralised section. Other riders also went down but they seem to have got back up and continued in the 160km stage.

13:29:21 GMT

Matthias Frank (IAM Cycling) became a father during yesterday's stage, with his partner giving birth to a baby girl. However Frank has chosen to remain in the race and is currently the best placed Swiss rider and so wears the special white and blue jersey.

13:36:26 GMT

The sprinters' teams are carefully controlling the two riders up front. Their gap remains at just over three minutes.

105km remaining from 160km

13:47:59 GMT

The duo up front has extended their lead slightly to 3:40.

13:54:45 GMT

Today could be another day for Peter Sagan, with the little uphill finish. Yesterday he took his ninth Tour de Suisse victory, saying that it was a huge confidence boost for him after missing out the day before. You can read what he had to say here.

99km remaining from 160km

13:59:25 GMT

The gap has eeked out a little more. The peloton aren't in a rush to bring them back, unlike yesterday. The two leaders have an advantage of 3:57.

14:12:28 GMT

The peloton have woken up and the pace has increased and the two escapees are being reeled back in. Their advantage has been cut down by a minute in the last 10km. It is now 2:57.

14:22:15 GMT

Today's stage finishes with two loops around Ossingen, taking a fourth category climb each time. Each ascent gives the sprinters and their teams a chance to get rid of their rivals.

14:25:29 GMT

After losing a minute of their advantage pretty quickly, the two leaders have managed to stem the tide a little. However, the peloton are still chasing hard and the gap continues to come down. Their advantage stands at 2:50 now.

70km remaining from 160km

14:36:53 GMT

As the peloton pass through the feed zone, the gap has dropped once again to 2:30. We've passed the halfway point in this stage.

65km remaining from 160km

14:45:35 GMT

The Omega Pharma-QuickStep team continues to lead the chase of the break. Velits is leading the peloton.

14:49:23 GMT

The riders will begin the two 28km circuits of Ossingen very soon. Each loop includes a Cat 4 climb in Mett Oberschlatt.

14:50:21 GMT

OPQS is riding for Cavendish for the sprint but also to protect Tony Martin's overall race lead.

14:51:26 GMT

Giant-Shimano is also helping OPQS in the chase. The peloton has the break under control.

14:56:42 GMT

The riders will get a look at the finish area for a first time. It'll give the teams and sprinters vital info on what to expected in 55km or so.

14:58:10 GMT

Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) has made a rare visit to the front of the race. He lost more than two minutes yesterday and any chance of overall success.

14:58:45 GMT

The riders have discovered how the road rises into a headwind in the final two kilometres.

14:59:05 GMT

That will make it difficult for late attacks but also for lead out trains.

15:00:49 GMT

The riders turn a fast right with 500m to go, with a curving finish straight.

15:03:14 GMT

The Katusha team is also helping the chase, for Alexander Kristoff.

15:03:51 GMT

The peloton crosses the finish line with 55km to go, 2:30 down on the break.

48km remaining from 160km

15:12:57 GMT

The peloton is bringing down the gap. It is 2:00 now.

15:16:13 GMT

Matthias Frank (IAM Cycling) waves to the camera to say hello to his partner and new baby daughter Laura, who was born suddenly yesterday.

15:18:07 GMT

Belgium's Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Belisol) bruised his left elbow and left knee in the crash earlier today. He is out of the race.

15:27:16 GMT

The peloton is lined out in the country roads after the descent. This is going to be a fast finish.

15:28:43 GMT

It seems Chris Anker Sorensen (Tinkoff-Saxo was also another crash victim in the neutralised spill. His elbows are covered in bandages.

15:38:11 GMT

Today's stage is packed with traditional Swiss views of swollen rivers, local architecture and cows munching on the sweet meadow grass.

15:40:31 GMT

The peloton has eased slightly as the gap falls to 1:15. They do not want to catch them too early.

15:41:12 GMT

The two breakaways get a huge cheer as they pass the finish.

15:42:29 GMT

Crash! Wiggins goes down at the back of the peloton with a rider from CCC Polsat.

15:43:04 GMT

The CCC rider is up but in pain. Wiggins is still sat in the road.

26km remaining from 160km

15:43:55 GMT

He gets up and looks set to carry on. He is pushed off and begins to ride. He is in pain.

15:44:36 GMT

Wiggins takes a bottle, seemingly happy to ride gradually to the finish.

15:46:28 GMT

The gap is less than a minute, with several teams spread across the road.

15:50:16 GMT

Who is your pick for the sprint today?

It seems like a showdown between Cavendish, Degenkolb and Sagan.

15:52:23 GMT

Orica-GreenEdge is also moving their train to the front. They have Matt Goss in their roster and he is desperate to win and prove himself before the Tour de France.

15:54:57 GMT

The peloton can see the two breakaway riders.

15:56:05 GMT

Laurens De Vreese (Wanty- Groupe Gobert) and Eritrea's Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN by Qhubeka) bravely tried to stay away but they're looking back and are about to be caught.

15:56:57 GMT

OPQS is again leading the chase, with Cannondale sat behind them.

16:00:07 GMT

The two make to the mountain prime and De Vreese has gone solo, to try and stay clear a little longer.

16:00:42 GMT

However Teklehaimanot closes the gap on the fast descent.

10km remaining from 160km

16:03:38 GMT

As if by (Swiss) clockwork, the peloton catches the attackers with 10km to go.

16:04:16 GMT

We now have three teams leading the peloton acros the road: OPQS, Giant-Shimano and Tinkoff-Saxo.

16:05:07 GMT

A BMC rider uses the footpath to move to the front.

16:06:14 GMT

Ossingen is the birth place of Ferdy Kübler, who won the Tour de Suisse in 1942, 1948 and 1951. The rider have passed the house were he was born.

16:07:26 GMT

The peloton splits around some road furniture. This could be a high-speed finale because no one teams wants to pick it up for now.

16:09:17 GMT

16:10:41 GMT

Tinkoff-Saxo has five riders on the front. Do they really think they can boss they sprint?

16:12:10 GMT

Indeed Tinkoff has six riders upfront, with Danish champion Michael Morkov in his red jersey.

16:12:28 GMT

Riders are falling out of the back of the bunch.

16:12:56 GMT

Trek and Cancellara are also trying to take over. Sky is also there.

2km remaining from 160km

16:13:12 GMT

Sky is riding for Ben Swift.

16:13:46 GMT

OPQS is punching it up the right side of the road into the head wind.

16:14:06 GMT

Boonen is leading the peloton, doing a big turn.

1km remaining from 160km

16:14:52 GMT

Cavendish is well placed with Giant leading it out.

16:15:25 GMT

Sagan is fighting for Cavendish's wheel.

16:15:47 GMT

Cavendish!

16:16:33 GMT

The Manx missile let his rivals start their sprint and then matched them and beat them on the slightly rising road.

16:17:04 GMT

Cavendish seemed to have a second kick and distanced his rivals.

16:18:51 GMT

Modolo (Lampre-Merida) jumped first on the leftand Sagan went on the right but Cavendish held his own and then opened up his own speed.

16:19:44 GMT

Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) came up late to take second, with Sagan taking third and Modolo fourth.

16:20:58 GMT

That victory will be a huge boost to Cavendish's confidence for the Tour de France. His big sprint rival Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) has yet to race since quitting the Giro d'Italia in early May.

16:23:08 GMT

Cavendish won by three bike lengths.

16:27:04 GMT

Tony Martin (OPQS) finished safely in the peloton and so retained the overall race lead.

16:28:21 GMT

Cavendish waves to the crowd on the podium and gets a chunk of Emmental cheese as a prize.

16:42:26 GMT

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of stage four.

Join us tomorrow for live, blow by blow coverage of stage five.

We'll have a full stage report and photo gallery of all the action on Cyclingnews very soon.

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